THE WHITSUN WEDDINGS (collection) by Philip Larkin (Initial Thoughts)

For a while now, I have been quite excited about settling down and studying this collection of poetry by Phillip Larkin, and so far I have not been disappointed.

I think that the poems definitely benefited from being read aloud, I found them easier to understand and the rhythm of Larkin's voice was much clearer as were the themes and the messages that the poet threaded through his words. Having now had time to read a few on my own and in my head, I am definite of the benefit that reading out loud adds to these poems.

The themes and ideas that Larkin writes about are very different to what I was expecting. With the title of the collection mentioning Weddings, I assumed and expected the rest of the poems to be quite happy and joyful poems that talked about the good things in life and the goodness of people, so it would be fair to say that I was a little surprised when the initial themes all seemed to be along the lines of death, loneliness and depression. Still, it has not dampened my excitement about studying them.

I'll admit that I was a little shocked some of the language and terms that Larkin using in some of his poems such as 'Sunny Prestatyn'. I was a little taken back by the taboo language and in the case of this poem, I was a little put off from reading it if I'm being honest.

The final thing that surprised me a little bit was the vast array of poem length that appears throughout the collection. 'The Whitsun Weddings' is incredibly long; around three pages, whereas 'days' is incredibly short; only a few stanzas long.

Overall, my initial thoughts after reading the poems in this book are good ones and I definitely will e looking forward to studying some of these in detail. What excites me the most is the fact that every time you turn the page, Larkin gives you something different, you never know what to expect when reading his work. Although they are not at all what I expected, in someways that's good because now I know that I won't be approaching these wonderful poems with preconceived ideas and judgements in my mind. I can start off with them afresh.